Bhagavad Gita BG 18.55
Chapter 18, Verse 55 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
भक्त्या मामभिजानाति यावान्यश्चास्मि तत्त्वतः । ततो मां तत्त्वतो ज्ञात्वा विशते तदनन्तरम् ॥
bhaktya mam abhijanati yavan yash ca smi tattvatah tato mam tattevato jnatva vishate tad anantaram
Meaning
Through devotion one knows Me truly — who and what I am. Then, knowing Me in truth, one enters into Me immediately.
Understanding
The supreme epistemology of bhakti: bhaktya mam abhijanati (through devotion one knows Me — not by logic or scholarship alone but through bhakti). Yavan yash ca asmi tattvatah (who and what I am in truth/tattva — the full reality, not a partial conceptual understanding). Tato mam tattvato jnatva vishate tad anantaram (then, having known Me in truth, one enters into Me immediately after — entry follows knowing directly). This is a pivotal verse: the highest knowledge of Krishna is not philosophical but devotional. Jnana and vijnana (v50) prepare; bhakti delivers. The entry into Krishna (vishate) is immediate once the true knowing happens.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| भक्त्या | bhaktya | through devotion, by means of bhakti |
| अभिजानाति | abhijanati | knows thoroughly, recognizes fully, comes to know directly |
| तत्त्वतः | tattvatah | in truth, in reality (tattva = truth, reality, that-ness) |
| विशते | vishate | enters into, enters, merges into |
| तदनन्तरम् | tad anantaram | immediately after that, right after (without interval) |
| भक्त्या | bhaktyā | by devotion |
| माम् | mām | Me |
| अभिजानाति | abhijānāti | one knows |
| यावान् | yāvān | how great, how much |
| यः | yaḥ ca asmi | and who I am |
| तत्त्वतः | tattvataḥ | in truth |
| ततः | tataḥ | then |
| माम् | mām tattvataḥ | Me truly |
| ज्ञात्वा | jñātvā | having known |
| विशते | viśate | one enters |
| तत् | tat | that |
| अनन्तरम् | anantaram | thereupon, immediately |